Many years ago, I got my start in Geek Punditry at a website called Comixtreme. I was on staff there for years writing columns and reviews and I loved doing it. But CX was a forum-based site and, like many other such sites, it died a slow death after Facebook came along and changed the landscape of social media. I also had an increasingly chaotic personal life at the time, and I fell out of writing such things almost altogether. For some time now, though, I’ve had an itch to get back into it, which I’ve tried to scratch with personal blogs and social media.

It wasn’t the same.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by one of the old CX crew, Craig Reade, asking what I thought modern social media was lacking. Without any other information, but suspecting what he was getting at, I told him “If you’re trying to get something started again, I’m in.”

Craig has assembled a small (but growing) group of old Comixtreme mates and some newcomers for the new ForgedBy4, a site to celebrate the things we love about Pop Culture. Our coverage will be there to accentuate the positive: no 15-point bullet lists about why your favorite superhero would be a terrible person in real life or why everyone in your favorite movie will probably die after the credits roll. That doesn’t mean there will be no criticism or analysis, just that if one of the site’s contributing writers is talking about something, we’re approaching it from a place of fondness and affection. If you want negativity, there’s the entire rest of the internet.

We’ll have a social media presence, of course. We’re on Facebook and Twitter, and we even have a Subreddit. But our heart and soul is old-school. We’re bringing back the forum as our main place for conversation, and we hope you’ll all take a few minutes to sign up (for free) and join in. Sure, you can read our articles if you aren’t a member, but we think the experience will be richer if you are. And if you’re not really sure what you would get out of a forum experience… well, Craig explains it better than I could.

My personal blog isn’t going anywhere, of course. I’ll still be here with updates of Santa’s Odyssey and whatever else strikes my fancy, but my Geek Punditry will now be concentrated on the Forge.